The impact of retirement on quality of life and healthcare expenditure among Chinese elders

The impact of retirement on the quality of life and healthcare expenditure among the elderly is a crucial dimension for evaluating the effectiveness of retirement system reforms. If retirement results in a decline in quality of life or an increase in healthcare expenditure, then delaying retirement may offer multiple benefits. Conversely, the potential compensatory effects of delayed retirement may need to be reconsidered. Existing cross-national studies report inconsistent conclusions regarding these impacts. This paper used China Family Panel Studies data and adopted the Fuzzy Regression Discontinuity (FRD) non-parametric estimation method to test the effects of retirement. Our results reveal a pronounced gender divergence: retirement exerts no significant effect on men’s well-being or healthcare usage, yet significantly reduces women’s quality of life while increasing their healthcare expenditure. Path analysis identifies post-retirement income loss as the primary mechanism, explaining both aggregate effects and gender heterogeneity. Specifically, men maintain income stability across retirement, whereas women experience severe income contractions that directly drive well-being declines. Consequently, from this perspective, delaying retirement or retired but still working would not have a negative impact on the quality of life for the elderly. These findings provide valuable insights for assessing the potential impacts of retirement reform in China.